Traumatic events have densely populated 5 days of the past week for me, and I’ve experienced a lot of big feelings related to
1) Jasmine Abdullah (Richards), a local Black Lives Matters leader who was – I and many believe – wrongfully sentenced for a felony under a “lynching” law;
2) the Stamford woman who described, in the courtroom, the impact of rape on her life when Brock Turner was given a 6 month sentence;
3) the murders, injuries and widespread trauma at an LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando.

For a few days, my gentler self was in charge of consoling the activist in me when I couldn’t compose coherent thoughts. It’s time to mourn, to take comfort from other people and simple acts: cooking, watering plants, sitting, walking.

Today I briefly turned on the Madeleine Brand Show and was relieved to hear her interview people who helped First Responders recover from attacks in San Bernardino, CA and Newton, CT. They described how many people in their communities encouraged responders to get help and about their commitment to exploring diverse recovery programs so that responders could choose what worked best for them. They noted that in Newton no officers had to take leave or resign because of PTSD and they spoke about the reality that there will likely be more violence in the future and about the necessity for developing long term psychological resilience.

We are all capable of violence. In my experience, Return to Your Senses helps people build resilience and helps people reduce violent reactions.

Adrenalin addiction often manifests in careers and avocations, such as fire fighters, police, emergency room nurses and news reporters. We discussed during the Cycles of Trauma training session. Self-care during sessions includes regular breaks to shake off and regulate any stress chemicals that get triggered during our discussions.
So picture my SHOCK today when I heard a woman say, Feeling scared makes you feel alive! , during a radio segment about – are you ready for this – the 7 1/2 BILLION DOLLAR SCARE INDUSTRY! These folks manufacture and sell horror year-round. Examples were $600 for were-cubs, and $600 for a head converted to an ashtray .
Now picture my eyeballs with dollar signs as I hire their marketing agent to promote 10 Trauma Touch Therapy sessions for a mere $400 for people who don’t enjoy living live scared!

Did you know that Touch – your first sense – developed when you were the size of a jelly bean? For 7 more months you were touched by a warm fluid bath, so, what a shock when, at birth, latex hands, a chilly room and a world governed by gravity replaced the womb’s soothing touch.

At birth – and over time – touch supports communication between infant and caregivers.

Touch continues to trigger the oxytocin release that increases the infant’s responsiveness to caregivers. Responsiveness increases the infant’s potential to thrive. Why? Human babies are born prematurely – that is, before the head is too large to fit through the birth canal, and before all their systems are fully developed. Caregivers are more likely to bond with this peeing, pooping, spitting up, wake-ful fretful, vulnerable, premature infant, when the infant rewards its caregivers with smiles & coos.

Skin is external portion of nervous system. They develop from the same embryonic tissue, so throughout life, touch influences all the functions governed by nervous system.

Disconnection is part of many
post traumatic experiences

Disconnection

• from calm

Traumatic events jangle the nervous system, knock the breath out of people, and leave them in a state of high alert – disconnected from the capacity to calm and modulate their responses.

• from trust

After trauma, the disconnection from a sense of safety and from the ability to trust makes many people feel isolated; disconnected from other people.Ruled by “flashes”. During an overwhelming experience, sounds, odors, visual and physical impacts may overload the nervous system and brain, and interfere with the brain’s usual recording, sorting and memory storage processes. Instead of creating and storing true memories that fade over time, random bits of the traumatic experience may be stored as indelible “flashes”.

• from present time

Whether a person has post traumatic stress from direct or secondary experience of trauma, experiencing a “flash” may trigger reactions that are disconnected from the reality of present time. Without intervention, these reactions often seem to have a life of their own.

Erratic storage of traumatic memories leaves many people with an incoherent or incomplete narrative of the traumatic event

For instance, if several people witness the same traumatic event, they may each relate a different version. Deprived of real memories, the thinking brain spins its wheels in a futile attempt to talk about and understand the trauma.
Physical effects. In the body, some post traumatic effects may be experienced as tension, such as clenched jaw, knotted stomach, back pain. Tension saps energy, and keeps the body saturated with stress hormones. Over time, many body functions and the immune system may be undermined by excessive exposure to this “stress-chemical” soup.
Long after the traumatic event, the effects of trauma, disconnected from conscious awareness, often interfere with sleep, health, ability to focus, intimacy, and/or relationships.

Trauma Touch Therapy™ is a bodywork-centered approach that helps people gently re-connect with – and transform – many trauma related “issues in the tissues”. That makes room for the stuff that got trapped in the body – usually quite a lot of sensory overload at the time of trauma – to be processed by the brain. People often report – with a huge sense of relief – that bits of the narrative fit together more coherently as the work progresses.

Repairing itself is the body’s full time job

It does this more efficiently when we understand how we can support its work. The term ‘body-mind” refers to the intelligence in every cell in the body – not just the brain. Information about what happened to us is stored through out the body and communicated to us in “body-language”. The body usually has messages for us. When people learn how to check for messages, the body doesn’t need to shout, and often reduces the intensity of its distress signals.

Trauma Touch Therapy™ is body-centered work that helps people learn to access information from their body

TTT™ is a necessary adjunct to talk therapy

Most of the traumatic or overwhelming experience is sensory, so checking in with the body helps people directly address their body’s needs, and find the words to talk about their experience.

TTT™ creates safe space

• to communicate with the body
• to suspend judging messages
• to explore safe touch
• to let discomfort lead the way out
• to experiment with joy and pleasure

Natural pain-relieving agents released during massage
comforts body and emotions

Medical & surgical treatments can be rigorous and draining. Anxiety and pain often accompany treatment and convalescence, and a “pain cycle” may develop.

Pain cycle can often be interrupted with body-centered care

Body-centered care releases natural pain relievers in the body that are many times stronger than morphine. The resulting euphoria and relaxation assists healing.

People who receive massage during radiation or chemotherapy for cancers, often experience fewer side effects.
Body-centered care helps people feel less alone, gives people something to look forward to and helps people connect with the courage to continue.

Clients say:You taught me how to stop fighting the pain.Now it’s less frightening and hurts less. I could feel your hands and hear your voice reminding me to breathe for days after the session ended.

• loosen adhesions that form after mastectomy and certain other surgeries;• low back pain related to tight hips, thighs and low back muscles• shallow breathing, reflux or congestion related to tight diaphragm and chest muscles• Many people say it helps with anxiety and fibromyalgia

A client whose low back pain restricted her tolerance for standing wrote: Wanted to let you know that my back is significantly better after the last (cupping) session I had with you. The next day I felt such an improvement in my ability to stand for long periods without pain. This client was still comfortable when she came for another session a few weeks later.